Cuddles
by sumersprkl
Summary: This story began long, long ago in a time period far away, much closer to when I wrote my other stories on here. However, when I took my probably far too long break from this website, it was unfinished. I finished it later and meant to post it, but was so unhappy with the ending that I never did. I have now fixed the ending. BBRae, very minor mention of Robstar.


Raven was on the couch, peacefully reading, when it started. Beast Boy came in, grabbed the remote, and put the TV on some unnaturally high volume. Raven didn't even bother glancing up to see what it was. She just blocked the noise and continued with her book, until she felt Beast Boy's eyes on her. She looked up and caught his green eyes. He ducked, running a gloved hand through his green hair, a blush on his green face. Raven really couldn't stand the color green. She rolled her eyes and turned a page. After a few moments that sounded like an awkward silence, despite the music blaring from the flat screen, he suddenly threw his arms around Raven's waist, pulling her into his lap. Raven let out a shocked squeal, embarrassed to find that the lights flickered at her momentary lack of control. She turned her head to face her attacker. "What on Earth are you doing?" She hissed. Beast Boy shrugged, eyes still on the TV screen. Raven rolled her eyes again. "Let me go, Beast Boy," she demanded.

"Nah," Beast Boy shrugged again. Raven fumed, using her powers to wrench apart the arms around her midsection. She grabbed her book and disappeared to her room, escaping for some much-needed meditation and her daily dose of listing all the reasons Beast Boy infuriated her.

Raven emerged again sometime later, incident nearly forgotten, for dinner. In the common room she found her teammates sprawled on the couch, watching a cheesy action movie. "Pizza," Robin announced, holding up a slice in demonstration, not turning around or removing his other arm from around his alien girlfriend. Raven grabbed a slice, silently thanking whoever convinced her more… 'culinary creative' teammates to settle for plain cheese. She took a seat on the couch, not noticing that her chosen seat placed her directly next to Beast Boy. The person in question, of course, noticed immediately, and used the opportunity to drag Raven into his lap again.

"Hey!" Raven exclaimed, struggling in his hold. He ignored her. _Curse his stupid growth spurt, _Raven growled silently. She glanced around, trying to appeal to her friends for assistance. Robin simply shrugged, and Cyborg and Starfire appeared to be stifling laughter. "Some friends you are," Raven huffed, waiting until Beast Boy went back to eating to make her escape. She fled to the arm of the couch, putting Robin and Starfire between her and the changeling, shooting him a dirty look. He grinned and waved.

In the week following, Beast Boy pulled his little stunt twelve more times, was punched seven, was slapped twice, and had Raven simply teleport away the other three; all before Raven learned to put distance between them using their friends as a barrier, hover over the floor rather than sit alone with him on the couch, and to make impromptu visits to the kitchen whenever he showed up. Not that Raven enjoyed being banished from her seat, but the alternative was something she wouldn't even consider. Unfortunately for her, as creative as she got, Beast Boy found another way. When their friends sat between them, Beast Boy 'convinced' them to get up and move; when Raven chose alternative seating, Beast Boy joined her; when she tried to make a break for the kitchen, he grabbed her in a flash and in moments was nuzzling into her neck.

Raven was beginning to consider never leaving her room, but she refused to let someone's childish antics dissuade her from living her life. She marched out of her room fearlessly, into the common room, which she found empty. Relieved, she sat down. The couch seemed even more comfortable than she remembered, and she sighed in contentment.

That is, until she noticed the green cockroach on the cushion next to her.

Raven launched herself into the air as Beast Boy transformed, missing her by inches. Not to be outdone, he quickly turned into an octopus and reached for her with his tentacles. Raven fended off his advance with fists cased in black energy. He gave up on the octopus and turned into a kangaroo, using the couch as a trampoline to launch into the air. Raven dodged. Beast Boy flew after her as a seagull, which she captured with her powers before flying towards the door. He squawked in indignation, struggling, and escaped by turning himself into a fly. Raven was almost out when Beast Boy suddenly turned back into himself on top of her, knocking them both out of the air and onto the couch, his arms around Raven. She struggled ineffectually for a moment before falling still, trying to catch her breath. Beast Boy shifted until Raven was lying across his lap, his arms still wrapped around her midsection, preventing escape. In their position, it would be impossible for Raven to teleport away without taking Beast Boy with her, and judging by his smug smile, he knew it. Raven glared at him, but made no further move to leave.

In fact, Raven allowed him to hold her captive for almost an hour; flipping off Robin and Cyborg in turn when they appeared about to make comments, and only making three half-hearted escape attempts when it seemed like Beast Boy wasn't paying attention (he was).

Raven continued to take precautions against getting caught by Beast Boy, but when he did manage it, she now relented with nothing more than a groan in protest. Eventually, she stopped bothering to sit on opposite sides of their friends, as they were all on Beast Boy's side anyway. At one point, when Beast Boy entered the room and sat by Cyborg, the half-robot picked Raven up from his other side and handed her off to Beast Boy. Raven knew it was a conspiracy. However, she supposed, it wasn't _all _bad. She found that her emotions would calm down when Beast Boy held her, and he tried to bug her much less often, leaving her in relative peace. She found, to her shock, that she actually came to _anticipate_… Whatever it was.

Then one day, it stopped. Raven didn't notice immediately, but she definitely knew that something was off. It wasn't until that evening during movie night that Raven figured out what it was. They all settled into their usual positions, Robin with his arm around Starfire, Cyborg in the middle of the couch holding the popcorn, and Raven right next to Beast Boy, waiting for him to drag her onto his lap. He didn't. Raven was momentarily confused, but didn't call attention to it. Who was she to pass up a chance to sit in peace? However, by about halfway through the movie, Raven was uncomfortable. She stood up and walked right past Beast Boy, giving him a perfect opportunity, but he remained where he was. Raven went into the kitchen and made a cup of tea, brows knit in confusion. As she trudged back to her place on the couch, she paused for a moment directly in front of Beast Boy. He simply leaned around her, eyes glued to the screen. Raven sat down again. They watched the rest of the movie in silence.

A week passed, and Raven was getting restless. Not only had Beast Boy stopped trying to hug her at every opportunity, but he had also stopped trying to bother Raven at all. She should have been overjoyed, but since the two had so little in common, the only time they really talked was when he tried to get on her nerves. Raven saw no shame in admitting that she missed her friend. However, that didn't mean she wasn't still mad at him. He was playing mind games, and she was going to win.

Raven steadfastly ignored Beast Boy ignoring her, and when she couldn't stand it, she left the room. Their conversations barely evolved past a polite "Good morning" or a quick "You okay?" in the middle of a battle. He hadn't told her a dumb joke in what seemed like forever, and she hadn't insulted him (well, to his face, at least) in nearly that long. Raven thought that they had regressed from 'friends' to 'polite roommates', and she hated it. But still she refused to give in, refused to let him know that it bothered her. It went on for a week, their friends shooting each of them worried looks and receiving nothing but casual shrugs in response.

Raven couldn't take it anymore. She sat in silence on the couch, less than a foot away from Beast Boy, neither saying a word. They were the only ones in the room. She could feel the silence thickening the air, nearly suffocating her. Raven jumped up suddenly and made for the kitchen. Beast Boy gave her dramatic departure nothing but a glance. She gulped down a glass of cold water and sat at the table. She rolled the glass between her hands, deep in thought. Soon she came to a decision. _Desperate times call for desperate measures, _she told herself. _Besides. There's more than one way to win a mind game. _With a wry smile, Raven walked back into the common room. She stood directly in between Beast Boy and the television, hands on her hips, completely blocking his view. He shifted and continued watching, not speaking. She used her powers to turn the TV off, summoning the remote and tossing it across the floor, out of reach.

"Hey, what gives?!" Beast Boy demanded. They were the first words he had spoken to her all day. She said nothing, but walked forward and sat down directly in his lap, making herself comfortable and opening her book. He appeared shocked speechless. Raven savored the moment, it was a rare occurrence. Even when Beast Boy wasn't speaking to her, he still ran his mouth nearly non-stop. After a moment, Beast Boy moved to lie down on the couch, taking Raven with him and putting his face in her hair. "Could you at least turn the TV back on? I was watching that," he whined. Raven rolled her eyes and turned a page. He sighed, but made no move to get up.

At some point Raven must have drifted off, because when she woke up, her other three teammates were leaning over them. She cracked open one eyelid, then closed it again in disinterest. "Well, looks like they made up," Robin commented. Raven could feel Beast Boy's chest shake in silent laughter.

"What this looks like is a perfect blackmail opportunity," Cyborg countered. "Say cheese!"

Raven raised her middle finger as the flash went off. "Aw, she ruined it," she heard Cyborg complain. Beast Boy laughed again and rolled over, putting him and Raven next to instead of on top of each other on the couch, backs to the other people in the room. Starfire took the hint.

"Friends, I believe that now would be a perfect time to go get the mustard from the kitchen," she said knowingly, ushering a protesting Robin and Cyborg out of the room. Raven rolled over to face Beast Boy, giving him a small smile. He grinned in return, then leaned in to peck her on the lips, looking at her questioningly.

"Hmm," Raven hummed thoughtfully. She hadn't thought about it like _that _before, but it did make sense. She didn't have a reason against it, either, as the time before their little fight had proven that they could get along well enough. She would be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive, as his growth spurt had the added benefit of filling out his muscles. She studied his face, ignoring the slightly worried look and focusing on the features. With a smirk, she decided that he was wrong about his ears being his best feature. It was the fang, actually, that had always driven Raven crazy. She frowned a bit at that thought. Maybe she _had _thought about it like that once or twice.

Beast Boy noticed the small frown and sighed, beginning to move away, but Raven held him in place. "Rae," he sighed again. Raven smirked evilly and rolled on top of him, pinning him to the couch.

"You know, I've always liked it when you called me that," she said, and then kissed him.


End file.
